Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress
December 1, 2025
Maris Vainre, Tim Dalgleish, Tia Bendriss-Otiko et al.
2 citations
Mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs) modestly improve task performance—the quantity and quality of completed assigned work—immediately after the intervention compared with doing nothing, but not compared with other active activities. The meta-analysis of 99 studies with 16,054 participants also found benefits for adaptive and contextual performance, and effects may persist for months. However, confidence in these results is very low due to limitations in the evidence. Employers and universities subsidize MBPs to boost work performance despite previously unclear evidence.
BMJ mental health
February 28, 2024
Maris Vainre, Tim Dalgleish, Peter Watson et al.
1 citation
A randomized trial tested whether a 4-week, self-guided, online mindfulness-based programme could improve work performance compared with a light physical exercise programme among 241 employees from eight employers. Both interventions were highly acceptable, and most participants started the course. The mindfulness programme offered negligible benefits for work performance at both post-intervention and 12-week follow-up. Both interventions improved mental health outcomes, but differences between them were small. The trial was feasible, but results provide little support for a later-phase trial comparing the two approaches, suggesting mindfulness programmes are unlikely to improve work performance beyond light physical exercise.
June 2, 2025
Maris Vainre, Lisa Doan, Cecilie S. Traberg et al.
preprint
Misinformation about mindfulness is becoming more common, leading people to ineffective or harmful programs. Inoculation theory suggests that resistance to misinformation can be built by inducing a sense of threat and offering pre-emptive refutations of deceptive techniques. Two experiments evaluated video-based inoculation interventions targeting inflated benefit claims and emotional manipulation in mindfulness marketing. In Study 1 (554 participants), those who viewed an inoculation video rated a misleading mindfulness program advertisement as significantly less reliable than controls. In Study 2 (590 participants), inoculated participants were less likely to say they would participate in a program advertised with misinformation. Inoculation appears promising for building resistance to mindfulness misinformation.